It also marks low for me as there is not much in the way of a friendship or brotherhood shown between Ben and Anakin. Yes, that should have occurred more in the previous films, or accomplished it better in them, but this was the ‘final shot’ at portraying that. The same also applies for Padme and Anakin’s relationship, and crucially, “Vader being seduced by the dark side of the force”, instead of what we got as his reason for “the turn”.
Before it was released those were the four things I wanted to see done well in ROTS, and thought that we would get, despite the shortcomings in TPM and AOTC. Yet, for me it failed across the board.
Regarding Anakin and Obi-Wan’s friendship, there isn’t as much as we should’ve gotten in the trilogy, but it was there in ROTS, unlike the other two. You see it in the opening mission and when Obi-Wan says goodbye when leaving for Utapau.
The romance is bad but not as bad as AOTC.
Anakin’s final seduction is also bad, though again, it’s a trilogy wide issue. It’s frankly impossible to pull the Walter White-esque turn we really should’ve gotten by this point because the other two movies didn’t do enough. We don’t see Anakin get gradually seduced by the dark side’s power. So Lucas came up with a half-assed, rushed turn.
ROTS isn’t very good, but I still give it the highest ranking of the Prequels (still far below the OT) because at least it feels alive. TPM, while arguably the most functional, is boring. AOTC is a cringe-inducing clusterfuck. ROTS is stupid, but fun.
ROTS from the moment Anakin turns is better then the other two Prequels combined.
I respect your opinion though, I’m just giving mine.